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From Vox
The global elite have forgotten Jamal Khashoggi’s murder -
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh on October 24, 2017. | Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images
Four years later, the Saudi crown prince is back in the fold.
Jared Kushner did not want to talk about Jamal Khashoggi.
I spotted him in the audience in late September at a conference hosted by an offshoot of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Investment Initiative Institute.
It was at a boutique hotel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, filled with investors, nonprofit leaders, and thought leaders. When I asked Kushner to comment about Khashoggi — the journalist whom the CIA determined that Saudi agents had tortured and killed while Kushner was serving in his father-in-law’s White House — he walked away from me.
Kushner’s response was in keeping with the conference’s mission.With such a long, convoluted name, the FII Institute as an organization seems to be banking on reframing the conversation away from Saudi Arabia as part of a global rebrand and PR push. None of the flyers, banners, or name tags mention the repressive kingdom by name. But make no mistake: This think tank focused on the future is powered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, or MBS as he is known.
In 2018, just weeks after Khashoggi’s killing, the businesspeople who attended the summit’s edition in the Saudi capital — nicknamed Davos in the Desert — shielded their name badges from view with their ties. It was still considered shameful to be associated with MBS.
Four years later, the rehabilitation of the Saudi crown prince is complete. President Joe Biden, after pledging on the 2020 campaign trail to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah,” capitulated and traveled to the country in July, in a visit that gave MBS the legitimacy he craves. The US has been sending huge amounts of weapons to the kingdom. And the grave human rights concerns do appear in summaries of the leaders of the US and Saudi Arabia but hardly rise to the level of a top priority for Biden’s foreign policy team.
The Biden administration didn’t send any representatives to the FII Institute summit on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week. But in October 2021, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves joined Davos in the Desert in Riyadh alongside BlackRock, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, and CNN.
The conversations at the Manhattan summit were centered on the future — largely the climate crisis and technological advances — without any recognition of the political repression in Saudi Arabia that was inadvertently supporting the gathering. Greenwashing has advanced MBS’s return into the fold.
Richard Attias, CEO of the FII institute who previously worked as the executive producer of the World Economic Summit in Davos, said he was proud of the conference’s “unique platform” for discussing global challenges and bringing together diverse influencers. “We don’t mix at all any political issues with what we are doing,” he told me. “So there is no reason for us to be impacted by any other drama happening.” The drama he was referencing in euphemism: Khashoggi’s murder.
Those willing to support Saudi’s rehabilitation
From the perspective of investors, the money in Saudi Arabia is too big to ignore.
The FII Institute called the New York gathering the Priority Conference, and it centered on the release of a 13-country survey of 130,000 respondents’ attitudes that the institute says represents half of the world’s population. The institute asked them: What’s your top priority? It’s an incredible feat of denial done in the service of reframing the conversation away from politics and rights. Of course, one might imagine that many people’s top priority is to live freely and not be murdered.
MBS wasn’t in attendance, and he didn’t come to New York for the United Nations — perhaps because the FII Institute conference would operate more smoothly without him there; perhaps because he would only come to the US if it was paired with a White House invitation, which is apparently not on offer from Biden; and more likely because there are several court cases against him. (In a cabinet reshuffle last month, MBS’s father, the king, did make MBS Saudi’s prime minister, which may provide him immunity from a Khashoggi lawsuit.)
Instead, the Saudi ambassador to the US, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, provided a video. And Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih said all too clearly, “My message to investors everywhere, is you don’t know what you’re missing until you come to Saudi Arabia.”
Al-Rumayyan was in conversation with former University of Pennsylvania president Judith Rodin, who declined an interview with Vox. But a quote of hers that was posted on the FII’s social media resonated with me in terms of the dissonance between Saudi Arabia under MBS and the new recovery of his reputation. “How do we grow and thrive if crisis falls?” Rodin said. “Rather than trying to go back to normal, because normal often has features of what got you into problems in the first place.” It was an incomplete sentence that summed up the new Saudi reality.
Saudi Arabia, with its money, retains incredible convening power. Throughout the day we heard from former Trump official and current Goldman executive Dina Powell McCormick, economist Nouriel Roubini, crypto billionaire and philanthropist Sam Bankman-Fried, Nobel Laureate Paul Romer, and prominent think tank leader Michael Milken.
There was an optimism for reform in Saudi Arabia despite all the indicators that suggest otherwise. Irina Bokova, the former director general of UNESCO, told me she has been visiting Saudi Arabia since 2008 and is impressed by MBS’s investments in cultural rejuvenation. “I think that the country transforms from the inside, and it doesn’t happen overnight. So I thought it’s very important to support, you know, this type of openness to change,” she said.
But the conference’s theme around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments showed that the world’s technocrats would be willing to come out. “Getting to meet, for example, the head of ESG at HSBC is something that was really meaningful for us,” Daniel Kleinman, founder of the Miami-based startup community Seaworthy Collective, told me. “As we look, especially, at these problems that need to be solved, especially on climate, we don’t necessarily have the time to pay [attention to] where the money is coming from as much as what impact it is creating.”
Under two glamorous chandlers, waiters in white jackets and black bow ties served bountiful plates of freshly sautéed pasta, a potpourri of salads, and generous portions of salmon. It was all too elegant, with painted murals one way and views of Central Park the other, but the notion of getting a free lunch courtesy of MBS made me sick.
Everyone else dug in.
“This is about funding,” Maximo Mazzocco, a climate activist and a youth global ambassador with the United Nations Development Program, told me. “Here, there are a lot of resources, a lot, a lot of resources. I’m talking millions and millions. A lot of people here have the power to make real change on a global scale.”
One of the speakers, talking to me on the condition of anonymity, told me that they were initially skeptical of joining a Saudi-sponsored event given the human rights concerns. “I don’t want to be used as PR material. I’m not a golfer. I don’t want to be trotted out,” they told me. Rather, they wanted to see if it was possible to move on and do good with Saudi money.
How the future looks for MBS
MBS may not be welcome yet in the White House, but his money, his government officials, and his message are being attended to in the United States.
Attias, who has shepherded FII confabs since 2017, was quick to tell me that he had also produced the opening ceremony for the landmark 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. “This was probably one of the best ceremonies,” he told me. “And everyone was calling for boycott, but at the end of the day, they came. Why? Because they understood that you cannot take a global, international event — as the Olympic Games or as FII — as a hostage of any other issues. There is no reason to jeopardize global dialogue.”
It was, inadvertently, a stunning admission. MBS, like China, is a massive human rights liability who can maintain his global connectivity despite all his moral shortcomings.
The New York summit closed with an invitation to fly to Saudi Arabia for the next installment of the FII events in late October. The institute says, in a press release, that more than 300 speakers and 5,000 participants will join.
“It’s not about his royal highness the crown prince,” Attias told me. “It’s about a global international event happening in Saudi Arabia.”
How to come up with a unique Halloween costume without spending a ton of money -
Denis Novikov/Getty Images
Tap your creativity (and closet) for the best Halloween costume.
With an October 30 birthday, it’s only natural that Kimberly Murphy takes Halloween extremely seriously. A natural redhead, Murphy has dressed up as iconic crimson-haired characters like the Wendy’s mascot and Chuckie from Rugrats, but once she started dating her now-fiancé, Brian, nearly a decade ago, Murphy’s costumes leveled up. A selection of Murphy and Brian’s greatest Halloween hits: Dexter and Dee Dee from Dexter’s Laboratory, Ms. Frizzle and the eponymous bus from The Magic School Bus, Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tormund and Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones, and Shaun White and a snowboard.
“We put my snowboard on his back so I could actually ‘ride’ him,” Murphy, who, regardless of the character’s gender, always dresses as the redhead, says. “It gave a funny, experiential element to the costume.”
This October, the couple, both in their early 30s, is getting married and will be depicting Chucky and Bride of Chucky for Halloween. (You can guess who’ll be donning the white dress.)
In childhood, Halloween is one of the few days of the year where you can wear your most imaginative garb to school and to strangers’ doors. As you get older, that sense of youthful creativity might wane, and figuring out what to wear to a costume party becomes another minor conundrum. Whether you dabble in dress-up or are a cosplay aficionado, conceiving of creative, yet approachable, Halloween attire doesn’t need to be a bewildering or expensive experience. Experts in the art of costuming offer their advice for ideating and executing your best guise so you can take home top honors in this year’s costume contest.
Narrow your focus
When every character, celebrity, historical figure, animal, pun, and meme is potential costume fodder, homing in on one idea can feel overwhelming. Limitations and parameters are your best friend. Use your own appearance — is there a person or fictional character who has a similar style as you? Vaguely comparable features? — and the media that interested you this year as jumping-off points. Everything from YA novels and nostalgic ‘90s TV shows to extremely local jokes and gags (public transit, sports mascots) to niche memes (hello, Chris Pine astral projecting) are prime inspo.
Is there an alter ego you’re interested in exploring? Cosplayer and photographer Hope Elmekies often dresses up as characters she feels a personal connection to, like Morticia Addams. “I very much felt like I related to [her] because she’s not fitting in,” she says. “I felt that kinship to that character.”
Courtesy Fungirlwithacamera Photography
One of Hope Elmekies’ go-to cosplay characters is Morticia Addams.
For all of her costumes, Murphy has let her red hair and the height difference between her and her fiancé (she’s 5 feet tall, he’s 6-foot-2) guide her choices. She thinks back to significant pop culture or historical moments that fall under these categories. For example, Murphy flagged Queen’s Gambit as a potential ensemble, due to its buzzworthiness and the fact that the protagonist had red hair. “I take this formulaic approach to Halloween where if it’s unusually small or redheaded,” she says, “that fits my formula of a potential Halloween candidate.”
For group or family costumes, it can be helpful to focus on one shared interest, accessory, or hobby. If you all met in an adult dodgeball league, maybe you want to dress up as dodgeball players. Maybe your group is composed of three couples and you want to do a Grease-inspired collab.
Then, figure out what effect you’d like your costume to have. Is your goal to make everyone laugh? Be the sexy one? Go all-in on minute details? Incorporate a few friends for a group costume? This can help you zero in on an idea.
The location of your Halloween bash can help further narrow down your options, says custom costume maker Correen Borst-Straub of Correen’s Creative Designs. Think about where you’ll wear the getup to determine what’s appropriate. If you’re going to a party in a small apartment, you probably won’t want to wear a huge Marie Antoinette dress or you might want to think twice about wearing vampire fangs to a costumed fundraiser with a sit-down dinner.
Buck convention, respectfully
Using popular culture as inspiration may yield a few potential ideas, but if you really want a memorable guise, approach these concepts in an unconventional manner. Many people tend to dress up as the main characters from popular shows (how many chefs and Targaryens are we going to see this year?) but supporting roles or genre tropes can also be crowd-pleasing attire. For her all-time favorite Halloween costume, Dani Cabot, the manager of New York City vintage boutique Screaming Mimis, dressed up as a virgin sacrifice. “I got bedsheets and a classic cheesy ’70s Roman goddess dress and I got a huge wig, and then a choker that made it look like my throat was slashed,” she says.
Even if you don’t share every physical trait with a character, use your differences to your advantage. Murphy and her fiance have often dressed up as characters that have historically been depicted as opposite to the couple’s own gender presentation. “Gender is always very subjective,” says Philadelphia-based drag queen VinChelle. “Everyone can express themselves how they want to.” VinChelle frequently performs in looks inspired by Beyoncé and uses the star’s photoshoots as a reference. She’ll then scour fabric stores in Philadelphia or New York City for the garment and works closely with seamstresses to construct the outfit. “Beyoncé’s a glorified drag queen,” she says.
To be clear: This is not an excuse to appropriate other cultures, use makeup to darken your skin, or wear racist costumes. If you’re unsure if a costume is appropriate, run your idea by a few friends first, says Kate Farrier, the wardrobe manager for RWS Entertainment Group, an entertainment and event production company that has produced haunted experiences for the likes of Six Flags Great America, Sea World, and Legoland.
Reference your personal style
Think about ways you can infuse your personality into popular ideas. Say you want to be a witch or a vampire. What can you do to make the costume feel like you? If your one wardrobe staple is a leather jacket, make your witch persona wear a leather jacket. “If you’re always on your phone, maybe you’re a celebrity vampire, social media vampire,” Farrier says. “Try and make it about something that you always have by bringing your personal items into it because that will make it special for you.”
One year, a shopper at Screaming Mimis spiced up their vampire attire by adding ’70s disco accessories. “They did this insane disco Studio 54 vampire look,” Cabot says. You can also take a character who isn’t particularly known for their fashion, like Pacman, and make an interesting garment inspired by their aesthetic.
Another way to differentiate is to make subtle changes to tried-and-true depictions. Borst-Straub has a 25 percent rule where she infuses her creativity into well-known designs so the resulting look is 75 percent true to pop culture and 25 percent her own.
Elmekies gets inspiration by searching her costume idea plus “cosplay” on Pinterest to see how others have approached the concept. Don’t worry about being so niche that everyone has to ask you what you are, Elmekies says. “So, what are you?” is a great icebreaker. “Sometimes when I go out as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, people don’t know who I am necessarily because it’s not a Disney knockoff, it’s more built that you can wear every day,” Elmekies says.
Use what you’ve got (or shop secondhand)
Halloween outfits shouldn’t cost a ton of money. Think about the colors, shapes, and silhouettes needed for a costume to help you identify the look’s building blocks. For a gargoyle look, for example, you’ll need a lot of gray apparel and makeup. “Think about the shapes of things instead of the actual items,” says Ryan Walton, the producer of Halloween experiences for RWS Entertainment Group. “[Say] I need a round hoop-like thing. What can I do that’s round and hoop-like that’s not going to cost me a lot of money and then I can refabricate?”
Scour your closet (or your friends’ closets) for pieces you’ll need. If you’re dressing up as a flapper, dig out a slip dress if you have one. Then, let your accessories and props do all the talking. “So things like jewelry, gloves, stockings, headpieces, masks can really transform a basic into something that’s excellent,” Cabot says.
For any pieces you don’t already own, visit a local vintage or thrift store, indie costume shop, or dollar store to get materials. Workers at these stores can offer expert costuming advice, and by shopping in person, you can be sure you’re getting exactly what you want — no online ordering surprises, Cabot says. Shopping secondhand is also far more sustainable than purchasing a polyester outfit from a big-box store. Chances are you can even incorporate aspects of your ensemble into your regular wardrobe, too.
Rock your costume
Ultimately, you’re going to have the best time in an outfit you feel comfortable and confident wearing. Think about how the fabrics and props feel; it’s not worth being constricted by shoes that are impossible to walk in. “You will light up the most when you are wearing something that you love,” VinChelle says. “When I am in my favorite costume, I’m a whole other person.”
Even if you feel like you don’t have the “right” body type for a certain character or look, “you can look at it as this is my character and my character’s just curvy,” Elmekies says. “Realize your character is incredible.”
Even Better is here to offer deeply sourced, actionable advice for helping you live a better life. Do you have a question on money and work; friends, family, and community; or personal growth and health? Send us your question by filling out this form. We might turn it into a story.
The states where the midterms will directly decide the future of abortion access -
Amanda Northrop/Vox
Republicans are laying a path to gut abortion rights after Election Day.
Earlier this year, five people altered the landscape of reproductive rights in more than a dozen states across the country when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In November, millions of voters will weigh in, casting votes in dozens of races and ballot measures that will determine how restrictive their state can be.
Ballot initiatives in three states could determine abortion access for millions of women and what kind of reproductive health care is available to them. Abortion has also become a key issue in races for governor and state attorneys general, who have direct control over their states’ abortion laws and how they are enforced.
Democratic candidates for governor want to gain or retain veto power over Republican-controlled state legislatures that want to curb abortion rights. Elsewhere, Republicans want to use governorships to chart a path to further curb access to the procedure. And Democratic attorney general candidates have vowed not to enforce their states’ anti-abortion laws and protect access, while their Republican opponents want to see maximum enforcement.
Here, we take a look at the eight states where abortion rights are most imminently at risk. This includes both deep red states and states with split political control where Republican candidates have articulated a desire to further restrict abortion, in several cases without any exceptions.
Depending on the outcome of November’s elections, the outlook for abortion access in these states could be grim, limiting residents’ options and further stressing the resources of neighboring states where abortion remains legal.
States with ballot initiatives
Alaska
Anti-abortion activists in Alaska want to amend their state’s constitution in a way that would allow future restrictions on abortion. There currently aren’t any gestational limits on abortion, though patients are required to visit a provider’s clinic to obtain an abortion, including medication abortion. The path to changing that in the state is convoluted, but it starts with a ballot initiative before its voters this year.
Every 10 years, Alaska asks voters whether they want to hold a constitutional convention. Voters have declined to do so, with little fanfare, since 1955. But this time, the opportunity is getting unusual traction thanks to campaigning by anti-abortion advocates, who want the option to overturn the Alaska Supreme Court’s 1997 ruling that “reproductive choice” is protected under a privacy clause in the state constitution.
The anti-abortion side argues the 1997 ruling was wrong and the privacy clause of the constitution needs to be clarified, which can only happen if Alaskans vote “yes” to hold a constitutional convention. The potential change wouldn’t be “a pro-life or pro-choice amendment. It’s just saying, ‘Our Constitution has nothing to say about abortion,’” Jim Minnery, president of the anti-abortion group Alaska Family Council, said in an interview with Alaska Public Media.
But that kind of amendment removes the current barrier preventing Republicans in the state legislature from restricting access to abortion. If the constitution were to be altered, abortion access wouldn’t necessarily be restricted: Alaska voters would have the opportunity to vote to accept or reject a new constitution following a convention.
Kentucky
Kentucky is considering amending the state constitution to say, “To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.” It’s modeled after an amendment that failed spectacularly earlier this year in Kansas, but it has a better chance of passing in Kentucky given that a majority of voters in the state say that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.
Kentucky is one of 13 states that enacted a “trigger law” in anticipation of the end of Roe. Kentucky’s allows abortions only to save the life of the pregnant person or to prevent disabling injury, with no exceptions for cases of rape, incest, or disabling fetal anomalies. The law went into effect following the Supreme Court’s ruling, and for now, the state Supreme Court has refused to block it as part of an ongoing court case. If the amendment passes, the law’s chances of surviving that litigation will be much improved, given that it was challenged on grounds that it violated the state constitution.
Montana
Montana is set to consider the “Medical Care Requirements for Born-Alive Infants Measure.” It would declare that infants born alive at any stage of development are “legal persons” and would require that medical care be provided to them following induced labor, cesarean section, and attempted abortion. It would also set a $50,000 fine and a maximum 20-year prison sentence for violators.
Montana law, however, already protects living infants in the exceedingly rare cases where this happens, providing criminal penalties for “purposely, knowingly, or negligently” causing the death of a “premature infant born alive, if the infant is viable.” And abortion is significantly restricted in Montana and may only be performed after fetal viability in cases of life endangerment or severely compromised health.
The practical impact of the measure would be to criminalize doctors for failing to perform life-sustaining measures on infants who have conditions that they cannot survive, such as severe prematurity, serious infection, or a lack of developed organs. The Montana Medical Association has come out against the measure, arguing that it infringes on physicians’ medical judgment.
A majority of voters in the state say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, but since this isn’t a direct attack on the right to have an abortion, it’s not clear whether it will pass.
Where abortion is at stake up and down the ballot
Michigan
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is up for reelection and has served as a veto against further abortion restrictions from the GOP-controlled legislature.
Earlier this year, she also challenged a 1931 pre-Roe abortion ban, which has no exceptions for rape or incest and has since been permanently blocked from going into effect by a Michigan state court. She’s nearly 12 points ahead in the polls over her anti-abortion Republican opponent Tudor Dixon as of September 30, according to FiveThirtyEight’s average, but the Cook Political Report rates the race among the most competitive governor’s races nationally.
Abortion has also been a key issue in the race for state attorney general. The GOP nominee for state attorney general, Matt DePerno, opposes abortion even in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergency. If elected to the position of the state’s top prosecutor, he said he would have enforced the pre-Roe abortion ban before it was overturned and that Plan B, a type of emergency contraception, should be banned if it’s taken “after conception has occurred.” (He later clarified that he has no problem with Plan B if it’s used to prevent pregnancy, but not if it’s used to end a pregnancy — something doctors say isn’t even possible.)
Should he be elected and Whitmer remain governor, conflict could erupt. For instance, DePerno could seek to challenge Whitmer’s executive orders protecting abortion access or limiting state agencies’ authority to enforce abortion restrictions in court.
Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel has said that, so long as she remains in office, she will not prosecute people who perform or obtain an abortion. But she has said that she would let county prosecutors enforce the law. “I don’t believe that I have or that I should have the authority to tell the 83 county prosecutors what they can and cannot charge,” she told MLive.
Michigan voters are also considering a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to provide for a right to reproductive freedom. Dixon has said that she would respect the results of the vote on the measure, even though she personally opposes abortion with exceptions for when the life of the pregnant person is in danger, but not in cases of rape.
Arizona
Incumbent Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy into law earlier this year. But Arizona also has a 121-year-old total abortion ban on the books, which only has an exception for when the life of the pregnant person is in jeopardy.
The current, term-limited GOP State Attorney General Mark Brnovich is pushing to enforce that ban, making it a key issue in the race to replace him. A state court allowed the ban to go into effect earlier this month, though an appeal of that ruling is likely.
The Republican attorney general nominee Abraham Hamadeh, a far-right former Maricopa County prosecutor, has promised to enforce Arizona’s existing anti-abortion laws, including Ducey’s 15-week ban and the pre-Roe ban. His Democratic opponent Kris Mayes, a former member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, has vowed not to enforce the state’s anti-abortion laws and that no patient or medical professional will be prosecuted for receiving or providing an abortion on her watch.
The race will decide whether current laws restricting abortion are enforced, while the governor’s race will decide whether those laws can be changed.
Abortion is also a key issue in the race to replace Ducey, who is similarly term-limited. Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs has vowed to repeal the pre-Roe ban if elected, though that would require the unlikely cooperation of the GOP-controlled state legislature, while Republican nominee Kari Lake has largely dodged questions about her position. She said in May that she would advance anti-abortion legislation without specifics, though her campaign has claimed that she supports exceptions from banning abortion for rape and incest. At the same time, however, she has said that she supports Arizona’s existing abortion laws, which do not provide any such exceptions.
Wisconsin
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is up for reelection, has twice called a special legislative session to repeal the state’s 173-year-old abortion ban, which makes no exceptions for cases involving rape or incest but does allow the procedure when the pregnant person’s life is in danger. Under that ban, doctors who perform an abortion could face up to six years in prison and $10,000 in fines, though Evers has recently offered clemency to those doctors.
The GOP-controlled state legislature, which has repeatedly sent anti-abortion bills to Evers’s desk, rejected his first attempt to call a special session to amend the abortion ban following the leak of the draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe, blocking any debate on the matter. They are scheduled to convene again on October 4 to consider doing so, though Wisconsin Republicans have already criticized Evers’s second call for a special session as a “political stunt.”
Evers’s Republican opponent Tim Michels initially said that he didn’t support any exceptions to the pre-Roe ban, saying it was an “exact mirror” of his position, though he has since changed his position, saying earlier this month that he would support exceptions for cases involving rape or incest.
Evers is currently leading Michels by under 3 points on average, according to FiveThirtyEight, and the race could go either way, continuing the current stalemate on abortion or introducing a new regime in which the procedure is almost entirely banned.
The state’s Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, who is also running for reelection, has said he will not enforce the ban, though he can’t stop local law enforcement officials from doing so. He’s also directly challenged the ban in court.
Where Democratic governors have stood in the way of further abortion restrictions — so far
Kansas
Kansas already voted down its own abortion ballot measure, which failed 59 percent to 41 percent, with turnout well exceeding expectations. But that doesn’t mean the fight over abortion rights in the state is done: Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is up for reelection in a tight race. She has served as a veto on further abortion restrictions floated by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature, including one in 2019 that would have forced doctors to post a notice of the possibility of a medication abortion “reversal,” though she has said she would not try to repeal existing 22-week restrictions.
Her opponent, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, has said that he respects the results of the vote on the ballot measure, but that it “does not mean the discussion has ended.” He opposes abortion except to save a pregnant person’s life, in cases of rape and incest, and when a fetus has a medical condition that is incompatible with life after birth. He has also said he supports replacing some justices on the state Supreme Court, which found in 2019 that access to abortion is a “fundamental” right under the state constitution.
Voters will decide this fall whether to retain six of the seven existing justices on the state supreme court, where liberals currently hold a majority. If they vote to oust those justices, the governor would have the power to select their successors from a slate of candidates recommended by a panel.
Voters are also considering another constitutional amendment originally devised by Schmidt that would allow the state legislature to veto rules and regulations issued by Kelly’s administration, including those related to abortion, even if she’s reelected. That could limit Kelly’s power over the enforcement of abortion restrictions and to what degree she can protect access to the procedure.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who is term-limited, has for years been a last line of defense against the GOP-controlled state legislature’s efforts to enact abortion bans. Most recently, the legislature advanced a constitutional amendment that states there is no right to an abortion or state funding for abortions. Democrats are hoping they can replace Wolf with their nominee Josh Shapiro, the current state attorney general. Otherwise, the future of abortion rights in the state looks grim.
State Sen. Doug Mastriano — the far-right Republican nominee who is trailing Shapiro by just over 10 points as of September 30, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average — sponsored a bill to ban abortion at about six weeks, has called the pro-abortion rights slogan “my body, my choice” “ridiculous nonsense,” and shared a cartoon that characterized the original Roe v. Wade decision as “so much” worse than the Holocaust. He also said during a primary debate that banning abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, was his “number one issue” and that he supports criminal penalties for doctors who provide abortions. He might find allies in the state legislature, which is unlikely to flip, according to Louis Jacobson of Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
All that means that anti-abortion legislation that was previously passed but that Wolf vetoed — including one measure that would ban abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected and was co-sponsored by Mastriano himself — could become law if he wins.
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Fear and loathing - what is daily life like in occupied Ukraine? - Post-apocalyptic is how one resident describes his city, from which many people have fled.
Ukraine war: Russian troops forced out of eastern town Lyman - The retreat came amid fears thousands of soldiers would be encircled in Lyman, and is seen as a significant blow.
Ukraine war: Questions over France’s weapons supply to Kyiv - Paris’s relative absence in its supply of weapons to Ukraine leaves eastern European countries wary.
Ukraine war: Biden says US will not be intimidated by reckless Putin - The US president condemns Russia’s leader over his declared annexation of four occupied regions of Ukraine.
Ireland’s Future: Leo Varadkar and Jimmy Nesbitt speak at united Ireland event - Leo Varadkar, Mary-Lou McDonald and actor Jimmy Nesbitt amongst the speakers at the 3Arena.
From Ars Technica
The weekend’s best deals: Apple MacBooks, Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, 4K TVs, and more - Dealmaster also has PC accessories, gift card deals, and some of our favorite wearables. - link
Our ancestors ate a Paleo diet. It had carbs - Modern hunter-gatherers offer insight into how our distant ancestors ate. - link
The era of fast, cheap genome sequencing is here - Illumina just announced a machine that can crack genomes twice as fast. - link
Tesla shows off unfinished humanoid robot prototypes at AI Day 2022 - First Optimus prototype walked onto stage, waved. Another one needed support and slumped over. - link
COVID may have pushed a leading seasonal flu strain to extinction - No one has confirmed a case of influenza B/Yamagata since April 2020. - link
From Jokes Subreddit
Vladimir Putin consulted with a fortune teller. He asked: -
“How long will I live?”
The psychic replied: “I cannot tell that but I do know you will die on a Ukrainian holiday.”
“Which holiday?” Putin asked.
“Whichever day you die will be a Ukrainian holiday.”
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Courtesy Fungirlwithacamera Photography
